Top 10 camping tips for families

These top 10 tips for camping with your family will help you be a little more prepared for everything a camping trip with kids can throw at you.

As a mum of two, family car journalist and founder of BabyDrive.com.au, I have learnt these things over years of camping with my family and use them every time we head bush (which is often!).

Here are my top 10 camping tips for families...

Anything can happen while camping, so it’s good to be as prepared as possible. Whether it’s your toddler’s constant request for a band-aid or mosquito bite cream, antiseptic wipes for cuts and grazes or the hopefully never-to-be-used snake-bite bandage, it’s best to have a well-stocked first aid kit to hand.

We use the Survival Vehicle First Aid Kit. It’s compact, has everything you can think of and the best bit for me are the QR codes on the front for first aid help, eHandbook, and for restocking. It also has a quick-access CPR guide for children, babies and adults on the front.

But remember, it might be best to keep your first aid kit in your vehicle and not in your caravan or accommodation (or even better, have one for both). There’s no point in having a first aid kit back at camp if you need it when you are out with the kids!

If some members of your family take regular medication, especially inhalers that make it difficult to tell how much is left in them, ensure you have enough to last your entire trip. For longer adventures it’s worth talking to your doctor and pharmacist beforehand about how to make sure you have enough meds for your time away.

As if the long car drive to get there isn’t bad enough, setting up and packing down camp can be one of the most stressful parts of a camping trip.

If you need some help with how to survive the drive, see our top 10 ways to entertain kids in the car and top 10 games for kids to play in the car or top tips for travelling with kids, not to mention top 10 snack ideas for kids on road trips.

Once you arrive at camp, the kids are unsettled and clingy and the grown-ups need to just be able to get on with it without distraction.

That’s why we always have a new treat or activity for our kids to do. On our latest trip to Mulgumpin Moreton Island, we surprised the kids with a new totem tennis set which they played with during set up.

You can keep a magazine, book or craft activity up your sleeve for packing down, although you may find your kids are so accustomed to camp life that they become excellent helpers and that is entertainment enough – more on that later!

This is a game changer for weekend camping trips. We have two online shopping lists saved. One we pick up on the way to camping – it has everything we need for our meals and everyone’s favourite snacks. Don’t forget the marshmallows for the campfire!

The second online shop is booked for pick up on the way back from camping, usually on a Sunday night. This is your weekly shop, everything you need for work, dinner, lunch boxes etc, so you get home ready for the start of the week.

Whether you are towing a trailer, camper trailer or caravan, using the roof racks or loading every nook and cranny of your car (and maybe all of the above), make sure you know what your vehicle’s towing capacity, gross vehicle mass, payload, gross combination mass and roof load rating are so you can work out what to put where and where to draw the line on ‘just one more thing’ while packing.

Don’t overload your vehicle and be sure to check your vehicle’s recommended tyre pressures, because they can differ when the vehicle is loaded and towing!

Having your own running water can make a big difference when you’re camping, whether it’s to wash up your dishes or to shower everyone when they come off the beach and at the end of a hot, active day.

You can get simple portable showers, some using a rechargeable electric pump and others you pressurise manually, for as little as $50, and they can make a camping trip feel just a little more luxurious. And it will also help limit the amount of sand and grit that can find its way into your beds!

Not everyone has built-in drawer systems in the back of their car or ute. For some, camping is a regular thing; for others, it’s occasional and permanently fixed storage limits flexibility. We have found that simple plastic stackable drawers from homewares and hardware stores are fantastic for family camping. Each person gets one drawer to put their clothes in at home and they stack easily in the back of the car – much easier than bags and suitcases!

When we set up our camper trailer, we put them outside under the awning because they’re fairly waterproof or, when we’re just doing a quick camp with the roof tent or swags, they can stay in the boot of the car.

They’re easy to access and carry to and from the house when we get home so everyone can unload their own clothes, and they’re just the right size to stop our ‘tween’ girls from taking every princess dress in their wardrobe!

We’ve even taken to using more of these drawers for other camping gear and food. They’re a game changer.

Having a few routines or rituals when camping can be really lovely and give the kids something to look forward to and to remember. For example, we always take our dinner down to the beach and watch the sunset on our regular family camping trips to Mulgumpin Moreton Island.

My youngest and I always wake early, so we go straight for a swim or a walk, depending on where we’re camping, and leave the others to sleep. This has become a ritual, and we look forward to our special time together when we go camping.

Our camping trips always involve bushwalks and our girls know they are always rewarded for their efforts with going for an ice cream at the end. Creating these lovely rituals and routines with your family is fantastic.

Without screens for entertainment, we take a few books and games with us for some family time together in the evening after dinner, when they’d usually get to watch TV at home.

Rain is inevitable at some point while you’re camping, so being a little prepared can help you smooth through those days.

We always take a packet of cheap acrylic markers, glue, string and scissors so the kids can get creative with things they find in their surroundings, whether it’s painting rocks, leaves or shells or making a wind chime of sticks.

Kids can keep themselves entertained for hours with their creativity and what’s in their surroundings.

Kids love to help! When we go camping as a family, there is often more time for getting the kids involved in the day-to-day tasks than there is at home.

For example, our eldest daughter makes breakfast every morning when we’re camping. It’s her role to make pancakes with berries for everyone for breakfast.

Our youngest daughter loves hammering in the tent pegs when we’re setting up and arranging the lights around our campsite.

Involving the kids in these things gives them ownership and allows them to step up in ways there’s often not time for in our busy day-to-day lives.

Often, you have to take your own drinking water camping; we fill jerry cans at home before we leave.

We also take a large empty drum/container that we can fill with bore water, creek water or rain water when we are at camp to use for showers, rinsing feet and the kids to play with, so you don’t waste your drinking water.

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